More In Entertainment

College basketball preview: Benedictine-Springfield at Quincy men

Posted: Dec. 2, 2013 7:36 pm Updated: Dec. 23, 2013 11:15 pm

Benedictine-Springfield (4-3) at Quincy men (2-4)

7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Pepsi Arena

Radio: ESPN 1440 AM

Twitter: @WhigSports

Scouting the Bulldogs: Senior guard Justin Smith recently earned back-to-back American Midwest Conference Player of the Week honors. He led the Bulldogs to a 102-89 victory over Trinity International nine days ago in their final game before the Thanksgiving break by scoring a career-high 23 points. He currently ranks third in the nation at the NAIA Division I level with 28 steals. His four steals per game ranks second nationally.

A.J. Bates, a junior guard from Milwaukee, has been instant offense off the bench, scoring 35 points in the last two games. The Bulldogs do have experience with a roster that features only one sophomore and no freshmen.

Scouting the Hawks: Much like Benedictine, Quincy will have gone nine days since its last game. However, the Hawks are coming off a one-point loss to Central Missouri and have yet to beat an NCAA Division II opponent. Both of Quincy's victories have come against NAIA foes, including a 30-point victory over AMC member Hannibal-LaGrange University. This is the third game in a seven-game homestand to close the 2013 portion of the schedule.

The Hawks are looking for their defense to improve. Quincy is allowing opponents to score 70 points per game while shooting 43.8 percent from the field and 36.7 percent from 3-point range. The Hawks are allowing nearly seven 3-pointers per game, while also getting outrebounded, on average, by two boards per game.